The predecessor of National Taiwan University was Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University, founded by the Japanese in 1928. When Taihoku University was first established, it had only two colleges: the College of Liberal Arts and Law, and the College of Science and Agriculture, and had a combined total of 60 students.
After World War II and Taiwan’s retrocession to Chinese sovereignty, the R.O.C. government resumed the administration and reorganization of Taihoku University, renaming it ”National Taiwan University” on November 15, 1945. As of the 2004 academic year, the University has a total of eleven colleges, 54 departments, 96 graduate institutes, and four research centers. The number of students totaled to be more than 33,000 in 2013.
As the first integrated and most prestigious institution of higher education in Taiwan, National Taiwan University has taken up the responsibility of promoting the level of academic research study and teaching in Taiwan. It has from the very start emphasized scholarly research in basic theory and upheld the atmosphere of freedom for academia. Simultaneously, it has strived to satisfy the drive in modern times for multifarious knowledge through course offerings, and to fulfill the social function of college education through feedback, in order to lay a solid foundation for the lifetime education of an ideal adulthood in the 21st century.
NTU holds the best record for academic achievement in both the social sciences and nature sciences, among all universities in Taiwan. In addition, NTU is renowned for its atmosphere of academic freedom. Students in NTU are encouraged to explore their interest freely, and they are diligent and innovative. They work hard, and they play hard. Student activities are held almost everyday in various aspects, some of which are cultural, and some of which are international.
As the best university in Taiwan, NTU intends to create more exchange programs and to cooperate with other prestigious institutions of higher education around the world, in order to achieve our goal of broadening our international scope. International student activities held by NTU in recent years include: the Association of East Asia Research Universities summer camp, the Harvard College in Asia Project Spring Conference, and the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific Biannual International Conference, all of which are planned and run by students, and supported and supervised by the faculty. International student events have been held at NTU more and more frequently.